How do you pick the right estate agent (and more) ?

Jazzonaut

Me and my wife are at the moment trying to choose an estate agent to sell our house. So far we liked two of them, and both are quite different in their approach.

Agent A suggested that we should put the house on a market for £350,000 (so-called market price) with the intention of selling at at around £340-345,000. Their fees are 1.2% with the 10 week contract.

Agent B has suggested we put it on for £369,500 and promised that they could easily sell it for no lower than £360,000 within 3-4 weeks max. Their fees are 1.6% with the 6 week contract.

At the moment we are more leaning towards Agent B, as worst case we could always swap them for another one after 6 weeks and obviously they were quite convincing with their promise of selling it at a higher price than Agent A.

Is there any trick that we're missing here? Anything else we should look at when choosing between the two? Any reason why an agent will overvalue the property (apart from the obvious intention to impress us) ? 6 weeks contract seems like a good deal, as worst case we're not locked in with them for too long.

Another thing that bothers us is we bought this house for £230,000 two and a half years ago. It was in a very poor condition, so we've completely redecorated it throughout (and done some bits on the outside as well), installed a new kitchen, flooring, etc. But 50% growth in such a short period, is this even realistic? For reference, it is in the GU52 postcode area.

eddddy

Obviously, the key question is... How good are they at selling houses, negotiating up offers, progressing sales etc?

But also -

- Tell agent B that agent A is offering 1.2%. Will they price match?

- Min contract periods are usually negotiable as well - so don't be swayed by that.

- 6 weeks... is that 6 weeks plus 4 weeks notice, or 2 weeks plus 4 weeks notice, or something else (read the contract).

- Are the contracts "No Sale, No Fee" or "Ready Willing and Able Purchaser" or something else?

- Read the contracts carefully to make sure you understand all fees in all circumstances, e.g.
--- You have no offers, and you decide not to sell after all (withdrawal fees)
--- You accept an offer, but then you decide not to sell after all
--- you sell to a friend
--- you decide to move to another agent

Jazzonaut

All good points, thanks. We try and get back to see if we could negotiate the price down to 1.2%. The contract we've got from them is not really that detailed, I suppose we'd have to clarify things like notice periods, etc. Both agents are no sale, no fee.

eddddy

Jazzonaut wrote: »

The contract we've got from them is not really that detailed,

Are you sure you have a copy of the contract, as opposed to just a letter or promotional material?

EA's contracts are always very detailed over perhaps 2 to 4 pages. Many EAs don't give you a copy of their contract unless you specifically ask them for it.

(I would then go through the contract with a fine-tooth comb and challenge anything I didn't like, and negotiate to get it changed. But some people just sign it without even reading it.)

Jazzonaut

eddddy wrote: »

Are you sure you have a copy of the contract, as opposed to just a letter or promotional material?

EA's contracts are always very detailed over perhaps 2 to 4 pages. Many EAs don't give you a copy of their contract unless you specifically ask them for it.

I'll have to double check this with them. There's definitely not enough information to cover all the aspects there. Wonder if I could also negotiate an even shorter contract term with them...let's say 3 weeks.

G_M

They're unlikely to agree to 3 weeks, but i you ask, they might then suggest 4 or 5.

Contract may only be produced when you actually agree to sign with them, unless you specificaly ask for it.

Once you've got to the agreement/signing point, you're less likely to carefully read through all the small print........

Jazzonaut

G_M wrote: »

They're unlikely to agree to 3 weeks, but i you ask, they might then suggest 4 or 5.

Contract may only be produced when you actually agree to sign with them, unless you specificaly ask for it.

Once you've got to the agreement/signing point, you're less likely to carefully read through all the small print........

Oh I'll make sure to read it very carefully. 4 weeks is not that bad either. I'm starting to think that 1.6% is a bit too much, so would definitely try and negotiate a better deal with them. 1.2-1.3% seems to be standard around here.